The Shelby-Griffin Report presents the 21st annual tribute to Women of Influence in the food industry. For 21 years, we’ve honored the outstanding women shaping the food industry—from executives and innovators to mentors and community leaders. This year’s nominees represent a diverse range of roles, backgrounds, and regions, each making a profound impact in their careers and beyond.
Explore their stories below, and join us in celebrating their achievements.
2026 Women of Influence
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2026 Women of InfluenceRhonda DeMello
VP Operations Support, Harris Teeter
Read MoreRhonda DeMello is a leader whose career exemplifies excellence, dedication and a relentless focus on people and customer experience. In her current role, she oversees support of operations for more than 250 stores and 85-plus fuel centers.
In this role, she recently led teams through back-to-back snowstorms, ensuring uninterrupted service and safety, while continuing to push for operational excellence and superior customer service.
DeMello is proactive in developing her teams, fostering continuous improvement and ensuring associates grow stronger every day.
Her influence extends beyond the workplace. She has served on the board of directors for USO North Carolina and is a volunteer and fundraiser for St. Jude Research Hospital. She also supports ALS and Breast Cancer research initiatives.
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2026 Women of InfluenceRuth Bain
Instructional Design and Employee Development Manager, Merchants Distributors (MDI)
Read MoreRuth Bain's impact on Merchants Distributors (MDI) is best seen in the strength, consistency and scalability of our leadership development efforts. In her current role, she has played a key role in shaping programs that build leadership capability across the organization and directly support operational excellence.
Bain has been instrumental in the design and delivery of enterprise programs such as Foundations of Leadership, Manager Accelerator Program and Accelerated Leadership Experience. These programs establish a common leadership language, clarify expectations for leaders at every level and equip managers with practical tools they can apply immediately on the job. Her work ensures that leadership development is not theoretical, but embedded into how teams lead, coach and perform every day.
Beyond individual programs, Bain brings structure and continuity to MDI's broader talent strategy. She connects learning to business priorities, strengthens manager effectiveness and ensures programs are aligned, repeatable and sustainable as the organization grows. Her ability to translate complex organizational needs into clear, well-designed development experiences has elevated leadership readiness across departments.
Bain's influence extends through the leaders she has developed, the teams they lead and the culture they shape. Her steady leadership, strategic mindset and commitment to employee development have made a difference.
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2026 Women of InfluenceSabrina Fair
Replenishment Manager, United Supermarkets
Read MoreSabrina Fair plays a vital role in keeping The United Family's fresh departments running smoothly every day. She leads the team that ensures 100 stores across Texas and New Mexico are stocked with the high‑quality meat, deli and bakery items guests rely on. Fair's work requires constant coordination, smart forecasting and a deep understanding of how to balance freshness, availability and waste. Thanks to her steady leadership, stores receive what they need on time and with the quality guests expect.
Fair's influence reaches far beyond her team. The decisions she guides shape the guest experience, support store teams and protect the company's financial health. She leads a specialized group of buyers and quality‑control experts, helping them grow while maintaining high standards across multiple departments.
This past year, Fair delivered exceptional results while navigating the company's complex system conversion. She kept her team focused, maintained strong service levels and ensured stores never felt the strain of the transition. Her attention to detail and commitment to freshness helped the company move forward without sacrificing performance.
Beyond her professional accomplishments, Fair has volunteered with Meals on Wheels for more than 25 years and is active in her church community. Her 26‑year career with The United Family reflects loyalty, excellence and a genuine commitment to serving others.
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2026 Women of InfluenceSara Rueda Cuartas
Director of Global Procurement and Business Development, Frieda's LLC
Read MoreSara Rueda Cuartas brings a deep passion to her work, consistently driving initiatives forward with a focus on operational excellence. She is naturally curious, always seeking ways to improve both herself and business outcomes. She leads with courage, embracing what is possible and taking action to achieve it.
With a strong focus on performance and team development, Rueda Cuartas is committed to continuous growth for herself, her team and the business. Recognized by her organization as a high-potential leader, she was selected to attend the Food Industry Management program at the University of Southern California, an investment in her continued growth and future leadership impact.
Rueda Cuartas represents a rising leader who is expanding her influence and helping shape the future of the food industry.
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2026 Women of InfluenceSarah Boddy
Managing Director, St Pierre Bakery
Read MoreSarah Boddy has driven exceptional growth, international expansion and cultural transformation at St Pierre. In the last 12 months, her leadership delivered standout commercial and organizational progress.
In the United States, Boddy established a new sales structure and appointed a general manager to accelerate growth. Under her leadership, the U.S. business achieved more than 18 percent sales growth in 2025, securing major listings with Sam's Club, H-E-B and WinCo, while also winning the brand's first-ever Publix listing for 2026. These results were achieved despite tariff pressures, market volatility and a declining bakery category, supported by the launch of the brand's first above-the-line campaign, "Eat Avec Respect."
Boddy also expanded the brand's international footprint, guiding a newly established team to launch in multiple new markets, with one territory delivering 291 percent of budget.
Alongside commercial success, Boddy strengthened company culture and purpose. Employee engagement rose to 83 percent in the annual survey, with significant gains in integrity, communication and development. She also embedded CSR into the business plan, with the team exceeding volunteering targets and delivering 121 days supporting community initiatives.
Through strategic leadership, commercial expertise and a deep commitment to people and purpose, Boddy continues to drive sustainable growth and position St Pierre for long-term success.
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2026 Women of InfluenceSarah Frey
Founder and CEO, Frey Farms
Read MoreSarah Frey oversees the diverse operations of the Frey family of companies, including land acquisition, regenerative agriculture initiatives, raw ingredient manufacturing and a fully integrated beverage business.
Headquartered in South Florida and spanning seven states, Frey Farms is a leading U.S. grower, shipper and marketer of fresh fruits and vegetables. It is perhaps best known as America's largest producer of fresh watermelons and pumpkins.
As a teenager, Frey expanded her mother's summer produce delivery route from 12 independent grocery stores to more than 150, saving her family's struggling small farm. At age 19, her negotiations with Wal-Mart secured fresh produce contracts and were a turning point that led to expansive growth into national retail. Her business negotiation strategies became the subject of a Harvard Business case study.
Frey's four older brothers returned to the farm and joined her in growing the business. Today, the family feeds America 200 million servings of fresh produce a year.
Frey serves on the board of FMI -- The Food Industry Association. As one of the most influential women in agriculture, she also serves in bipartisan ag advisory roles for multiple members of the U.S. Congress.
Frey is a skilled and persuasive communicator who has provided congressional testimony on key issues affecting the U.S. food supply, including the ag guest worker program reform.
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2026 Women of InfluenceSarah Matejowsky
Senior Director of Sales, Sunkist Growers
Read MoreSarah Matejowsky has dedicated more than 30 years to Sunkist, and her recent promotion is a testament to her exceptional leadership and vision.
In her new role, she leads the company's East Coast sales efforts, bringing strategic clarity, operational excellence and unwavering customer focus to an industry that grows more complex every year.
Matejowsky's ability to guide her team through change, foster collaboration and develop winning strategies has elevated the organization and the people who work alongside her. Her deep commitment to citrus growers fuels her passion and her extraordinary work ethic. Simply put, she does not quit; she sets the standard.
Sunkist is grateful for Matejowsky's decades of service, influence across the industry and the inspiration she brings to everyone she leads. Her impact is lasting, meaningful and worthy of recognition.
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2026 Women of InfluenceShannon Beasley
Training and Development Manager, Superior Grocers
Read MoreShannon Beasley exemplifies the forward-thinking, people-centered leadership that is shaping the future of the food industry. Known for her passion, curiosity and creativity in learning and development, she approaches every challenge with a commitment to elevating both her team's work and the individuals behind it.
Beasley's strong initiative enables her to transform bold ideas into actionable strategies and her talent as a clear, compelling communicator helps drive alignment and inspires cross-functional partnerships.
Beasley consistently ignites modern thinking about leadership, culture and communication. She never hesitates to propose innovative approaches that challenge convention and move the organization toward its strategic goals and a more adaptive future. Her eagerness to learn fuels her own development, while her creativity continually generates fresh concepts that strengthen engagement and build stronger teams.
With a career foundation in store operations, Beasley brings a rare and invaluable perspective to her role. She understands firsthand the pressures and realities of frontline work, allowing her to design training and solutions grounded in empathy, practicality and true partnership. This deep connection to the field enables her to champion initiatives that support teams and improve the customer experience.
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2026 Women of InfluenceShannon Clark
Senior Director of Marketing and Communications, Houchens Food Group
Read MoreShannon Clark oversees marketing strategies for 400 locations in 15 states, with a focus on grocery, quick-service restaurants and Ace Hardware stores.
Under her leadership, Houchens Food Group streamlined its digital ecosystem by consolidating multiple platforms into a unified system, improving operational efficiency and enhancing the customer experience.
Clark led the launch of digital incentives and loyalty programs through partnerships with e-commerce vendors, creating a consistent, scalable approach across multiple brands.
She excels at translating strategy into practical solutions that strengthen marketing performance while making programs easier for stores to execute. Her collaboration with store teams and focus on the customer perspective ensures that marketing initiatives translate to the store level and help Houchens remain competitive in an evolving grocery landscape.
Clark also led the "Add Milk!" campaign in partnership with Auburn University's Hunger Solutions Institute as part of the Healthy Fluid Milk Incentive program. This initiative enables SNAP participants to buy discounted milk at Houchens' stores, helping families stretch their grocery budgets while increasing access to nutritious dairy products.
Through her leadership, innovation and commitment to community impact, Clark represents the very best of the grocery industry.
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2026 Women of InfluenceShelby Silvia
Deli Merchandiser, Lowes Food Stores
Read MoreShelby Silvia brings a high level of enthusiasm and drive to everything she does, and she consistently demonstrates a "whatever-it-takes" attitude to support store operations and team success.
Silvia oversees the operations of 10 deli departments, ensuring strong execution, consistency and performance across all locations. Her operational knowledge and attention to detail make her a trusted resource for store teams and leadership alike.
Anytime there is a new store opening, remodel or refresh, she is always among the first people called upon. Her willingness to step in, take ownership and lead during critical moments speaks volumes about her reliability and dedication.
What truly sets Silvia apart is her ability to go above and beyond expectations every day. She does not just manage tasks -- she supports, coaches and motivates teams to perform at their best. Her passion for excellence and positive influence are felt throughout the organization.
In addition to being an exceptional professional, Silvia is also a devoted mother, balancing her personal and professional responsibilities with grace and determination. She is a tremendous asset to Lowes Foods and a role model for leadership, commitment and heart.
Celebrating the Women of Influence in the food industry for 21 years!
Presented by The Shelby-Griffin Report
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